[TenTec] Orion 2

[John Occhipinti]

"THE ORION II STILL LIVES ON", by K3UR

The Orion II still lives on, in spite of production ceasing,
don't hold a funeral for it yet, I say it's popularity will be increasing,
as an owner of this fine radio, there's nothing really to fear,
it's time to keep our heads up high, because TEN-TEC will always be here,
many radios have come and gone, as a far as production is concerned,
keep operating your Orion II , don't act as if you've been burned,
some seem that it's the end of the world, I say do not fret or fear,
it's just a matter of time, when a new radio will appear,
don't hold a funeral for it yet, don't give up whatever you do,
this radio is still one of the best, just keep active with your Orion II.

John D. Occhipinti, K3UR
Net Control, TEN-TEC SSB Nets



John Henry <jhenry at tentec.com> wrote:

>Regarding obsolete parts, as Jim/Stan drafted in the announcement letter,
>the Orion 2 has components that are obsolete which we can no longer get in
>production qtys. We have sufficient quantity in house to handle repairs for
>failures related to these components for at least 8 to 10 years. The number
>we have in house and the number of years we think that they will cover is
>based on the current failure rate of similar parts in the Orion. So we
>should be covered for Orion 2 repairs for quite some time.
>
>Regarding firmware updates, well, discontinuing firmware updates for the
>Orion 2 is not in the plan. In fact, unlike our competitors, discontinuing
>firmware updates for it's predecessor, the Orion 565 is also not in the
>plan. As you will see soon, we have an update in the pipeline for the
>original Orion 565 firmware. We will soon release it to the  beta testers,
>and as soon as they thrash it completely, and we have ironed out any
>issues, we will then release it to the public. Once we are through with
>that release, we will assess the requests for all of the other rigs,
>including the Orion 2. Schedule the software changes to work on next, and
>follow a similar release path. Let the beta testers thrash it, then again
>assess the next rig to work on. Including the Orion 2. I still want to
>address specifically the "Smeter affected by AGC or not" issue, and also
>work with experts on the ability of extremely fast impulse noise spikes
>loading up the AGC attack. Addressing Rob's concerns on the Orion 2 and our
>other rigs regarding this same issue.
>
>There is no exact specific plan yet for a real high end Orion 3 type of a
>rig, but there is always "something" in the works for new rigs, and various
>other products. I cannot divulge yet what these are, but as I have always
>tried to tell this and other TEN-TEC reflectors/yahoogroups/etc.... TEN-TEC
>is working on new products, TEN-TEC is not sleeping. We are going to
>continue to address traditional user interface type rigs, and also going
>into open source where we can to let the rigs themselves take a life of
>their own, etc. We aren't sleeping, and yes, MANY in TEN-TEC read this
>reflector, and others.
>
>Thanks, and 73,
>John Henry, KI4JPL
>TEN-TEC Engineering
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